Why did the Mubarak regime turn the internet off?

That was the question I asked the attendees of a gathering recently at the Oxford Internet Institute looking at the role of the internet in the revolutions sweeping the Middle East.

The question gives us, I suggested, a route into understanding the other side of the equation, ie. How authoritarian regimes maintain their power. It therefore connects us to a long standing debate that has encompassed media studies, cultural anthropology, political science and more.

What do the next ten years hold for creativity, innovation and intellectual production in the Middle East? Among the presentations to the Arab Thought Foundation’s ninth annual conference, FIKR9, one narrative for how the region should evolve dominated all others.

This said the region can harness its ‘youth bulge’ to create a knowledge economy. This can happen from within the existing political structures, and will fuse Gulf oil wealth and investment expertise with the ever growing pool of human talent from across the region. But it was not the only narrative by any means.

As the sole London-based member of Meedan’s far flung team (we have developers in Damascus, Amman, San Francisco and Portland, not to mention our team of editors and translators across the Middle East), I was glad to have some company last week when some of my colleagues dropped in for a visit.

The occasion was a two-day gathering at the University of Cambridge with the academic partners behind our inter-faith project.

It’s the daily trade of the television output editor, chopping what doesn’t meet the grade to maintain the daily news agenda in a time sensitive schedule.

But now an Arabic language channel in the Gulf might have to rethink its editorial chain of command after a court in Dubai slapped down a $27,000 fine for not broadcasting an interview it recorded with a Saud royal.

The decision inflicted ‘emotional, moral and social damage on the prince’s status as a royal,’ according to his lawyer.

When Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak came to power 28 years ago, the Berlin Wall still had another eight years to stand, AIDS was only just being recognized as a disease, and the Ford Cortina had another year to run on the automaker’s production lines.

Little wonder then that some people in Egypt would like to see a fresh-faced successor to take the reins in elections slated for 2011.

But not, by any means, everyone.

Switzerland’s controversial referendum decision to ban the construction of new minarets for Swiss mosques has caused varying degrees of concern in the Arab world, and attracted a wide ranging debate about the reasons behind the decision.

Independent online daily Nawwar reports that amongst observers, whether Swiss, Arab, or Muslims of any ethnicity “understanding the nature and significance of this initiative differs from one person to the next, some see it as a storm in a teacup, while others see it as flagrant evidence of the “spirit of religious war” persisting in the subconscious of many people in the West.”

Dubai and Abu Dhabi saw their main stock markets fall sharply today as they opened for the first time since a state-owned company in Dubai asked for extra time to repay its debt.

For many in the Middle East, the specter of Dubai’s towering promise tumbling down is a deep affront to regional pride.

“Oh Proud Emirates, with your golden sands and high sky,” said a reader on Emirat Al-Youm, “your men, women, children, elderly and wise people will not bow down or be humiliated.”

The discovery of Ardi, the oldest hominid skeleton ever found, was big news for the science community around the world.

But in the Middle East, the news triggered a different order of debate.

‘A research team revealed Thursday that the discovery of “Ardi” proves humans did not evolve from chimpanzee-like ancestors,’ reported Al Jazeera on its Arabic language website under the headline ‘Ardi rebuts Darwin’s theory’.

It’s always odd when the President of the United States agrees with a member of Hamas.

“Obama has a long way to go still and lots of work to do before he can deserve a reward,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

It was a view that echoed far off across the Mediterranean, the other side of the Atlantic.

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize,” said Barack Obama.

“I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments…”

The Beirut-based news outfit Menassat has closed after its Dutch backers Free Voice withdrew funding support.

The closure brings to an end two years of quality journalism at Menassat which built a reputation for monitoring and investigating Arab media news.

In a statement posted on its website, Menassat’s staff said they were given less than 24 hours notice of the closure.